Polishing metal on a lathe

I have been wrapping abrasive cloth around things in the lathe for polishing since I was in high school back in '62 and in apprenticeship and as a machinist since then; occasionally, the abrasive strip might catch and pull the fingers in and give them a painful event, but never anything serious, no breakage of anything but the abrasive strip; it seems that the new abrasive strip is weaker in the fabric than years ago, now it seems to break way easier, making it less likely to damage the fingers if things catch and wind up the strip and fingers with it; newer strip breaks before it even catches.
 
They used this lathe for polishing SS by hand , they polished the chuck also , amazingly the bed ways are good,
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Another thing about wrapping the abrasive cloth around the part when polishing in the lathe is that it seems that even in USA made abrasive cloth, the strength of the fabric seems to be considerably weaker than the "good old days", Back then if the cloth hung up on the part, and tried to wreck your fingers, it did not break; nowadays, I see the band break just under th force of the spinning part, much weaker than back then; the effect is to make it harder to injure one's self by wrapping up your fingers in the abrasive cloth around the part being polished.
 
I prefer to use 5C scroll chuck when using emery cloth or polishing, never folding back on itself, using two hands. Jawed chucks have a way of winning when contacted.
 
I polish on the lathe all the time. But never wrap around the part. I hold the emery or scotch barite between the thumb and for finger. That way when it grabs, it just pulls it out of my hand. No harm no foul.
 
Never wrap your hand around the spinning part. Simply hold the two ends and pull towards you as mentioned by kd4gij. I polish rolling mill work rolls with a old set of crucible tongs. I have a leather strap that is held by the tongs and use a narrow piece of Emery cloth or paper. The leather forms around about half of the part and supplies the pressure that my hand causes by closing the tongs. Work great and I can stall the lathe with too much pressure, only 1 1/2 hp motor. There is a picture somewhere on this site showing the tongs.
Pierre
 
they polished the chuck also ,
Click to expand...

LOL!

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm still overly cautious, after seeing too many incidences, and hearing of much worse from others in my father's machineshop.

At least it's better than learning the HARD WAYS (pun intended).
 
Lotsa good reading here! I saw a You Tuber with loose sleeves & a wrist watch the other day.
I cringed. Fenner's chin hair or even my long hair are much less a danger if we're cognizant
of how aware we must be in each decision & position assumed during a given operation. I'll
use a file to work a piece in a running lathe - but I realize which way to position it should the
unthinkable launch happen. The trajectory would be away from me & out of my hands. I use
strips of sandpaper. My hands are near a foot away from the moving part. Again, if it grabs,
my fingers cannot be pulled into moving parts.
After the high school girl with long hair somehow got tangled up in a lathe (during horse play),
I discovered that OSHA requires a cover on the lead screw in shops with more than 1 worker.
I decided to add this cover, not because of the girl's accident or even because I have long hair.
I added it to keep the screw clean.
There is a point of No Return during every operation. I got confused on which way to start my
cross slide when at full stop & wrecked it. That was a point of No Return. Parts only took six
months to arrive. Take your time. Identify "traps". Check your direction. Do dry runs to prove
your direction is correct. Slow down. Measure twice - with different instruments to prove the
answer is correct & repeatable. Enjoy the outcome!

Pic below is added lead screw cover, rebuilt apron & ready to assemble the cross slide with new
parts.

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